In the new age of AI (artificial intelligence), parenting has become more challenging than ever. This wonder technology and its variants are predicted to change society and, more importantly, the jobs marketplace, in unimaginable ways. Several global think tanks, such as the Davos-based World Economic Forum and US-based investment banking behemoth Goldman Sachs have predicted that by 2045, over 300 million jobs will be lost to AI and that over 65 percent of children enrolled in primary schools will be working in new jobs that don’t yet exist. The new era of BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible) is already here. It’s unpredictable and requires careful response.
For parents, the BANI world presents the formidable challenge of preparing children to navigate and succeed in future workplaces and societies being shaped by technology disruption as we speak. For over 300 million children and youth in the country’s 1.4 million schools, 47,000 colleges and 1,168 universities, confronted with obsolete curriculums and rote pedagogies, these are trying times. With teachers and academics slow to respond, they urgently require parental help and guidance.
The consensus emerging from global think tanks is that to succeed in the uncertain future, beyond academic degrees, children and youth need the skills of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, adaptability, resilience, creativity and emotional intelligence. Almost a decade ago in 2018, Chinese billionaire business magnate and chairman of the online behemoth Alibaba Group, Jack Ma had stressed the importance of teaching children ‘soft’ skills to prepare for jobs of the future. “Everything we teach should be different from machines. If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now we will be in real trouble. We need to teach our children values, believing, independent thinking, teamwork, care for others. These are soft skills that conventional education will not teach you,” he warned.
In our cover story this month, we address the challenges confronting parents in the new AI and machine learning age. Based on inputs and opinions of reputed parenting coaches, career experts and psychologists, we provide guidelines for parents to prepare children for the new BANI/AI age.
That’s not the entire focus of this issue of ParentsWorld. Check out our Adolescence story, in which Bhubaneswar-based child psycholgist Reena Chopra suggests coping strategies to prevent teenage substance abuse. Also, the Special Essay in which Oz academic Jane Herbert advises that it’s perfectly alright, indeed advisable, to bill and coo with infants — talk ‘parentese’. Also recommended is the Health & Nutrition feature in which Delhi-based pediatrician Dr. Tarun Singh advises parents on ways to prevent children from contracting the flu virus during the monsoon season, which is upon us and coincides with start of the new school year countrywide.
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